Phoenix Falling
by Dagniro Vanaliel
Summary: A girl from America is transferred into Hogwarts. Her mother's an Auror working for the Order of the Phoenix, and she's the exact opposite. What happens when she gets caught in the middle of the Second War?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable as part of the Harry Potter universe. It all belongs to J.K. Rowling.

"Lisa!" a middle-aged witch called up the stairs. "I need to talk to you!"

"I'm coming!" Up in her room, a teenage girl closed the book she'd been reading and hurried down the stairs.

"What?" she asked, annoyed that she'd been interrupted.

"Come into the living room with me. There's something I need to tell you." Bewildered, Lisa followed her mother. They sat down on the sofa, Lisa resisting the urge to put her feet up on the coffee table.

"We're moving." Lisa stared at her mother. How could they be moving? Lisa had school; she _had_ to graduate.

"How-we can't- where?"

"London, England."

"But-school-"

"Don't worry. You're coming with us. There's a very powerful Dark wizard overseas; we're going to help fight him." Lisa's mother was an Auror, one of the best in America. Her father was a Healer.

"So, why am I going?"

"Because you'll be safer in England."

"What? Are you crazy? Have you freaking lost your mind?" Lisa was completely astounded that her mother would even _think_ of putting her in that kind of danger. She wasn't _brave, _and she certainly wasn't _powerful._ The only thing she had going for her was speed. She was pretty fast when running away from danger.

"No, Lisa. I assure you, I'm completely sane." Her mother gave her what was probably supposed to be a reassuring smile, but it just confirmed her thoughts that her mother was insane. "You are coming with us, and you will be going to school there. You are to be enrolled in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Headmaster there is Albus Dumbledore. While he's there, nothing, and I mean _nothing, _can cause you physical harm."

"Okay then." Lisa had no idea what was going through her mother's head as she said this, nor was she sure that she wanted to know.

"Just, please stay safe. Listen to your teachers, and don't do _anything_ that could cause you harm."

"I'll be okay; don't worry." Her mother smiled and hugged her.

"I know you will." She paused. "I guess I'd better tell you. To get to London- we're flying. Oh- but not on broomsticks-" she added after seeing her daughter's panic-stricken face- "we're going by plane."

"Isn't there a better way? Like, a portkey, or Floo powder, or _something_…"

"No. We can't attract too much attention. The Dark wizard- Lord Voldemort- would find us. I'm sorry." Lisa just shrugged, unable to speak. She hated flying of all kinds, ever since she fell off a broomstick during her first flying lesson and fell fifty feet. She didn't like heights either.

"We're leaving in two weeks," Lisa's mother said.

"_What?_" Lisa was shocked. "Two…two _weeks?_ But-"

"Oh, don't worry. We can't bring everything here; the majority of it will be put in storage. Just bring the basic necessities." Lisa nodded dumbly, wondering why her mother could be cheerful about all this, and went up to her room to pack.

The next morning, Lisa woke to a barn owl scratching at her window. She opened the window, took the owl's note, and brought him downstairs. She gave him a bit to drink before he flew off again.

Then Lisa turned to the envelope. Inside was two pieces of paper. One explained that Dumbledore was going to talk to her after breakfast on the first day. It also said that they'd received her transcript and that she would be known as Lisa Emmons instead of Lisa Thompson, her real name. The second was a list of basic supplies for Hogwarts as well as a booklist. None of the books on the list were books she already had, the school uniform was different, and so were many of the supplies.

Lisa pulled out all of the supplies she wouldn't need, except for the books (she was rather attached to books and would never leave them behind) and dumped them into a box. She would bring them into town later and sell them to help pay for her new Hogwarts things.


	2. Chapter 2

Phoenix Falling

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and its respective universe belong to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Two

Summer had always been Harry's least favourite season. What could be worse than quality time with the Dursleys, he thought?

But this summer was even worse. He wasn't ridiculed, his aunt and uncle left him alone, and Dudley was positively frightened of him after Mad-Eye Moody's threat.

The only problem with his summer, and the worst of it, was that Sirius was gone. Harry would never have his godfather back, no matter what. He was gone forever; dead, never to return. Never again would Sirius offer advice to Harry. What was he going to do without him?

Harry had never been one to brood; sure, he'd had his share of angst moments, but there was always something to keep him occupied and away from his depression. Now, however, there was nothing to keep him from his sorrows. He was bored, utterly bored, and not even the stack of letters from Grimmauld Place would cheer him. They contained mostly messages of consolation, trying to convince Harry that Sirius's death wasn't his fault. Harry had long since given this idea up, after Dumbledore talked to him last June. The messages, however, made him start to think that it was, in fact, his fault.

His thoughts swarmed around his head, and the heat of the day dizzied him until his eyes finally closed and he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Harry woke a few hours later, his scar burning again. It had been tingling all summer, and most of last year, but it was worse that time. Absentmindedly rubbing his forehead, Harry peered out his window, wondering if Hedwig was coming soon. His last letter had been rather bland: _I'm all right, the Dursleys are ignoring me, I'm bored out of my mind and I want to get out of here_. It wasn't the first time his letter had consisted of that message, and Harry was sure it wasn't going to be the last. Still, his spirits lifted a little bit as a snowy owl made her way to his room, several bits of parchment tied to her leg. Harry opened his window to let her in and took the letters. One was from his best friend Ron Weasley, one from his other best friend Hermione Granger, and one from the people at Grimmauld Place.

Ron's letter was an attempt to be lighthearted- he told Harry that his brothers were letting him work in their joke shop over the summer to earn a little extra gold. Ron apparently enjoyed working there with his brothers. The shop was very casual, and the Weasley twins seemed to enjoy trying out their products on customers.

Hermione's letter described a surprise her parents had given her as a treat after a stressful Fifth Year. They'd found out about S.P.E.W. and taken her to the World House-Elf Activists Convention, where she discovered that she wasn't the only one worried about Elfin welfare. Harry was amazed that such a thing existed, and that there were enough people to make such an organization.

The last letter, from Grimmauld Place, was the most surprising of the notes.

_Dear Harry,_ it read, _We're coming for you. Get your things together and come to the park at nine o'clock this evening. We'll be waiting for you. Sincerely, Your Friends._

Harry's spirits soared. He was going back! Immediately he rolled off his bed and began to pack his belongings into his trunk, without really thinking about what he was doing. The end result was about as neat as it had been last summer, when Tonks had tried to pack for him by magic. It only took him about ten minutes this time, and when he was finished he realized that the clock by his bed told him that it was only six thirty.

Finally, it was time. Sort of; it was seven thirty, but Harry was getting impatient. He wanted to leave _now, _and he was sick of waiting. He grabbed his things, threw his Invisibility Cloak over them (it would be rather awkward to be seen at the park with a trunk filled with spellbooks and a broomstick) and headed towards the meeting place.

It seemed to take forever for the Order to arrive, but arrive they did. It was just beginning to get chilly when a group of about seven cloaked figures on broomsticks dropped out of the sky to land in front of him. Immediately two of them charmed his trunk to make it lighter and tied it to their brooms; Harry grabbed his broomstick and grinned at the people who were, at long last, going to bring him back where he belonged. He wasn't even worried why they suddenly decided to take him back; all he cared about was that they were.

As it turned out, the people who had come for him were more or less the same as the ones who had come for him last time. Each face was a familiar one, and one he was delighted to see. It was refreshing to be in the presence of people like him, especially after what happened last spring.

Harry didn't remember much of the flight there; he was too ecstatic. Before he knew it, they had landed right in front of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place- and it was exactly as he remembered it.


	3. Chapter 3

It was a lot bigger than anything she'd seen in her life. No, that's not right. It was the biggest metallic thing she'd ever seen. No, that isn't right either. But it was the biggest thing she'd ever seen that was supposed to fly without magic.

Lisa gulped, staring at the plane in front of her. _What have I gotten myself into? _she thought. _I can't- Is that supposed to _fly? _Without magic? _She turned to her parents and voiced this concern, hoping that they'd say no, it would be fueled with magic. They simply laughed.

"Of course it is, you don't think the Muggles would allow us to do something like that? Not to mention the rest of our community?" her father said. Lisa sighed.

She wasn't ready for this, and she knew she never would be. Ever since that horrible day in her first year, she'd been afraid of flying.

"_All right, miss Thompson. You're next." Eleven-year-old Lisa nodded to the instructor and called the broomstick to her hand. It was her first flying lesson. She was determined to make an impression on the instructor. Maybe she'd even get to join her house's Quiddich team in a couple of years._

_Lisa took a deep breath and pushed off of the ground. For the first few airborne moments she felt as if she was going to crash at any time, but after the initial shock realized how wonderful this was._

_She zipped around, twirling higher and higher. She tried a loop. The next thing she knew, she was falling… and then, darkness._

Lisa shuddered. She hated to think about that… but it didn't matter. Nothing really mattered at the moment except that she was going to be flying. Shit.

A few moments later, she was all buckled into her seat. Her mother sat beside her, by the window, and her father sat behind them. Lisa jammed on a pair of headphones and turned up whatever music was playing as loud as it would go. Then the plane took off. Lisa screamed and her mother covered her mouth.

"Shh, Lisa. It's all right. You'll be fine." But Lisa didn't calm.

Finally she had to resort to the in-flight movie to settle her nerves. It was some stupid soap-opera thing. She didn't much care for it, and she wasn't even paying attention. But at least she was calm and quiet.

The pilot called over the intercom that the plane was going to be heading into some slight turbulence and that it was nothing to worry about. Lisa, of course, didn't hear him. So when the plane began to toss and jerk around, she freaked out.

"Aiii! We're all gonna diiiiiiiie!" she shrieked, falling out of her chair and rolling around. She had obviously lost her mind. One of the flight attendants came to see what was wrong, but Lisa's mother had already grabbed the girl and buckled her into her seat.

"Everything's fine," she told the lady. "My daughter's afraid of flying, that's all." The attendant nodded and left. When no one was looking, Lisa's father forced her to drink some sleeping potion he'd brought with him. Lisa dropped off, and slept the rest of the flight without any disturbance.

"Lisa, wake up! We're here, honey." Lisa was gently shaken awake by her mother several hours later.

"Wha?" she asked, confused. "Here? I'm alive?" Her parents nodded.

"Yes, we're here. Now, let's go get our bags, okay?" Lisa grumbled something of an assent, and she picked herself out of the airplane chair.

They collected their things and walked out of the terminal. Standing there in front of the door was a triple-decker bus with _The Knight Bus_ written along the side. A man with bad acne was standing in the doorway with a sign that read _Lisa Emmons_. She waved to him and turned to her parents.

"That's us, I guess," she said. Her parents looked at each other for a moment, then her father sighed.

"Sorry, Lisa. That's your ride. We have arranged out own transportation. You will be going to an inn, with our kind, and we will be going… elsewhere. Don't worry, we're absolutely positive you'll remain safe."

Lisa stared at them in shock. They were leaving? But—why? She shook herself. _Stupid,_ she thought,_ they're here for a reason. You'll be fine. They'll be fine. _

"Okay. Bye." She pulled her parents into a tearful embrace, then stepped onto the bus.

"I'll see you next summer," she said with uncertainty.

"Yes, Lisa," her mother said. "You most certainly will."


	4. Chapter 4

Harry Potter pushed open the door to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. It was exactly as he remembered it, complete with the severed elf heads.

"Harry, dear!" Mrs. Weasley bustled into the hall and embraced him. "How are you? Has your summer been nice so far?" She grabbed his arm and pulled him inside.

"Harry! You're here! Excellent!" He turned to see a tall, red-haired boy. His face was covered in freckles.

"Hello, Ron… Hermione," Harry greeted his friends. Ron looked behind him, and noticed his friend Hermione had followed him. She was exactly the way Harry remembered her, bushy hair and all. He grinned.

Hermione ran down the rest of the stairs and hugged her friend. "It's so wonderful to see you again!" she said, even though they'd only said goodbye a few weeks ago.

"Yeah. Moody? Were you going to show him?" Ron asked the wizard standing behind Harry.

"Yeah, just wait a minute," the ex-Auror growled. He hung up his coat and hat.

"What? Show me what?" Harry asked. Excitement crept into his voice, though he tried to keep it away.

"This." Mad-Eye Moody seized Harry's arm and led him into an adjoining room. 

Harry gasped.

xxxxxxxxx

Lisa dragged her suitcase into the grubby pub. A sign on the door told her it was the Leaky Cauldron, a name that didn't reassure her much.

"Reservation for Lisa Emmons?" Stan Shunpike asked the man behind the counter. The man put down the glass he'd been wiping and opened a registrar.

"Emmons, Emmons… Oh, yes. Room Nine. Here's your key." He handed Lisa a tiny gold key. "I'll show you to your room, then." He walked out from behind the counter.

"I'm Tom, by the way. Innkeeper of the place."

"Good luck, miss Emmons," Stan said. He waved to her and left.

Tom chatted cheerfully about nothing while the two walked down the inn's hallway. Lisa made occasional sounds of consent, but for the most part took in her surroundings.

"Here we are. Room Nine. I'll leave you here to get settled. Unpack and then come down to the pub. There's someone here who wishes to speak to you." Lisa nodded and unlocked the door to her room.

It wasn't very big, but it didn't really need to be. There was a fireplace, with some sort of blue flames that gave off a cool breeze, welcome for the heat of midsummer. A four-poster bed stood against one wall, a wardrobe leaned against another, and a full-length mirror hung on the door. A short bookshelf also stood next to the bed, with a nightstand on the opposite side. All in all, it was a decent place to spend the next month and a half (or however long it was now; Lisa could never keep the date straight).

She unpacked her clothing first, hanging her robes in the wardrobe and folding her pants and shirts into the dresser. Then she stacked her books on the desk. At the bottom of her trunk she found a plain white envelope. Inside was a tiny gold key and a note from her parents.

_Lisa, _it read, _This key is to your Gringotts account. Your father and I have put a little money aside for your usage. There's enough in there for your school supplies, clothes, and a little extra for anything that happens to catch your eye. Love, Mom._

Lisa grinned. Her own Gringotts account! She would have to be careful not to spend it all at once, though the idea was tempting.

She changed out of her Muggle clothing, dressing instead in a simple black robe with gold trim. It made her feel more comfortable; she would probably blend in better in wizard clothes. She folded her supply list and placed it in her pocket, then slung her tiny purse over her shoulder and returned to the pub.

Tom was waiting there for her, standing next to a man in a lime green bowler hat.

"Lisa Emmons?" She nodded. "Excellent. I am Cornelius Fudge, the British Minister of Magic. Welcome to our country. Now, you'll be staying here until September the First, when you'll leave for school. Do not stray into the Muggle world, though I doubt you have any desire to do so anywayThis pub contains the entrance to Diagon Alley, which will provide everything for you during your stay. It is also where you can buy school supplies."

Lisa's head was spinning. She was slightly confused, but nodded anyway. Fudge continued talking.

"Now, if you'll follow me, I'll show you how to enter Diagon Alley." He stood up and walked through the crowd. Lisa followed him out into a small courtyard. A black trash can stood against a brick wall.

"Watch closely. You'll take out your wand, like so, and tap the third brick from the left above the rubbish bin, like so." He tapped the brick three times with his wand. The bricks began to rearrange themselves, finally revealing an archway leading to a winding alley. At the end was a large white building that Lisa guessed was Gringotts.

"This is Diagon Alley. At the end, there, is Gringotts. Did you get the key?" Lisa held up the tiny golden key she'd found in her suitcase. "Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's something I need totake care of…"

With that, Fudge bustled off, leaving Lisa to explore Diagon Alley.

First, she went to Gringotts—a rather obvious start, as she needed money to be able to buy things. The first goblin was available, so she went up to the stand. Her head barely reached the top, and she couldn't see over very well.

"Er—I need to make a withdrawal?" she said. The goblin nodded.

"Have you got the key?" he asked. Lisa handed him her key. "Vault three hundred and ninety seven, then. This way." He gave back the key and waved her down the row. She followed him through an archway to a small cart. They climbed in, Lisa looking nervous.

"Here we go!" The goblin sped the cart along the tracks. They moved deeper and deeper, speeding down steep hills and sharp turns. By the time they got to Vault three hundred and ninety seven, Lisa was a rather nice shade of green.

"Right then. Key?" She handed the goblin her key. He opened the vault door to reveal several piles of wizard gold, silver, and bronze. Lisa filled her purse and turned to go.

"Er—could we go a bit slower on the way back?" she asked. The goblin gave her an odd look. "Nevermind," Lisa mumbled, turning red from embarrassment. The goblin grumbled something. He motioned Lisa into the cart and they sped up, just as fast as before.

The bright sun nearly blinded Lisa when she walked out of the dark bank, but she soon adjusted. She had money and free run of the shops. Nothing could spoil this day for her.


End file.
